Goods And Services Tax Practitioners (GSTP)

In the erstwhile regime, chartered accountants, sales tax practitioners and advocates undertake the job related to accounting and taxation related to Indirect taxes mechanism in India. Under the GST regime, a GST practitioner has been authorized for conducting such activities and  formalizing the association shared between a tax payer and the person preparing his returns, in turn making the process simple, convenient and transparent.

1. Who is a GST Practitioner?

As per Sec 2(55) of CGST Act 2017, “Goods and Services Tax Practitioner” means any person who has been approved under section 48 to act as such practitioner.

48. (1) The manner of approval of goods and services tax practitioners, their eligibility conditions, duties and obligations, manner of removal and other conditions relevant for their functioning shall be such as may be prescribed.

(2) A registered person may authorise an approved goods and services tax practitioner to furnish the details of outward supplies under section 37, the details of inward supplies under section 38 and the return under section 39 or section 44 or section 45 in such manner as may be prescribed.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2), the responsibility for correctness of any particulars furnished in the return or other details filed by the goods and services tax practitioners shall continue to rest with the registered person on whose behalf such return and details are furnished

Sec 48(1) of the CGST Act 2017 refers to the following requirements-

– Manner of approval of Goods and Services Tax Practitioners

– Eligibility Conditions

– Duties and Obligations

– Manner of their removal

– Other Conditions relevant for their functioning

Rule 83 of the CGST Rules 2017 (as amended upto 04^th September 2018) explains the various corresponding processes as explained below-

2. Application Process for enrolment of Goods and Services Tax Practitioner

a. An application form is to be filed by the concerned person.

b. The same may be filed electronically on the portal.

c. The application for the registration is to be filed in the prescribed form GST PCT 01.

d. It may be filed directly by the person who intends to be the GST Practitioner or the same may be applied for through the facilitation center.

e. The facilitation center opted by the person has to be the one notified by the Commissioner.

3. Eligibility Conditions

The person who is applying must fulfil the below mentioned criteria in order to get himself enroll as the Goods and Services Tax Practitioner

a. He must be a citizen of India

b. The person should be of a sound mind

c. The applicant is not adjudicated as an insolvent

d. The applicant should have not been convicted by any competent court

e. The applicant has to satisfy any of the following conditions-

• The applicant is a retired officer of the Commercial Tax Department of any State Government
• The applicant is a retired officer of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, Department of Revenue, Government of India
• He must have worked in a post not lower than the rank of a Group B Gazetted Officer
• He should have served any of the above mentioned offices for not less than 2 years
• The applicant has enrolled himself as a sales tax practitioner or tax return preparer under the existing law for not less than five years

4. Qualification

He must possess the following mentioned qualification/s

a. The applicant must either be a graduate/ post graduate or should have cleared an equivalent examination

b. The degree of graduation/ post graduation may either be of Commerce, Law, Banking including Higher Auditing, or Business Administration or Business Management from any Indian University established by any law for the time being in force

c. a degree examination of any Foreign University recognised by any Indian University as equivalent to the degree examination mentioned above may also be considered in lieu of b

d. Alternatively the he must have passed any other examination which has been notified by the Government of India particularly for this purpose.

e. Apart from above following qualifications are also equally recognizable for the said purpose-

• Passed Final Examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India or
• Passed Final Examinations of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India or
• Passed Final Examinations of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India

Process of Registering as a GST Practitioner

Step 1	Go to www.gst.gov.in
Step 2	Go to Services- Registration
Step 3	Click on new registration
Step 4	This will take you to the ‘New Registration’ page. Click on New Registration In the ‘I am a’ dropdown, select GST Practitioner Select the State and District from the dropdown Enter Name, PAN, Email Address and Mobile Number Enter the captcha code Click on ‘Proceed’
Step 5	After validation, you will be redirected to OTP verification page
Step 6	Enter the 2 different OTPs received on e-mail and mobile number. Click on ‘Proceed’
Step 7	This will generate a TRN. Click on ‘Proceed’
Step 8	Enter TRN and Captcha. Click on ‘Proceed’
Step 9	Enter the OTP received on the registered mobile number and click on ‘Proceed
Step 10	Enter all the details required by this part and upload documents in .pdf and .jpeg format. Click on ‘Submit’ in the Verification page

 Once the application is submitted a success message will be displayed. You will receive an acknowledgment on your registered e-mail id within 15 days. This will complete your process to register as a GST Practitioner.

5. Scrutiny of the Application submitted by the person for enrolling himself as Goods and Services Tax Practitioner

After receiving the application in form GST PCT 01 the authorized officer shall scrutinize the same and may conduct an enquiry if he deems necessary to do so. After completing the scrutiny and evaluation of the particulars mentioned in the application, he may opt with either of the below mentioned steps

Acceptance of the Application	Rejection of the Application
Either enrol the applicant as a goods and services tax practitioner and issue a certificate to that effect in FORM GST PCT-02	or reject his application where it is found that the applicant is not qualified to be enrolled as a goods and services tax practitioner

6. Validity of the Enrolment as the Goods and Services Tax Practitioners

In terms of Rule 83 sub rule 3, the validity of the enrolment will remain alive till it is cancelled.

7. Examination to be conducted by the concerned authorities

The examination as notified by the concerned authorities has to be passed by the person within 18 months from the appointed date.

8. Professional Misconduct by Goods and Services Tax Practitioners

If any Goods and Services Tax Practitioner is found guilty of misconduct in connection with any proceedings under the Act, following action can be taken against him by the concerned authorised officer-

– Issuance of Show Cause Notice in FORM GST PCT-03 cause for such misconduct  may,

– He may issue FORM GST PCT 04 directing thereby that he has been disqualified under Sec 48 of the CGST Act 2017 to remain enrolled as a Goods and Services Tax Practitioner.

– The concerned officer has to give him reasonable opportunity of being heard before issuing disqualification order.

Form GST PCT-1	Application for enrolment as a GST practitioner
Form GST PCT-2	Certificate of enrolment as a GST practitioner, issued by an authorised officer
Form GST PCT-3	Notice seeking additional information on application for enrolment or show cause notice issued to GST practitioner for misconduct
Form GST PCT-4	Order of rejection of application for enrolment or disqualification of a GST practitioner found guilty of misconduct

9.  Appeal by the Applicant against order issued for Misconduct

Appeal can be made to the commissioner within 30 days from the issue of the order

10. Authorization by a Registered Person –Rights & Obligations

– A registered person may authorize a GST Practitioner in FORM PCT 05 on the common portal and undertake such tasks indicated in the said authorization during the period of authorization.

– He may withdraw the authorization at his opinion.

– The registered person has to send a confirmation regarding any statement furnished by the Goods and Services Tax Practitioners authorized by such registered person i.e submitted on his behalf.

– The said confirmation shall be sought from the registered person over email or SMS

– The statement furnished by the goods and services tax practitioner shall be made available to the registered person

If the registered person fails to provide the response/ confirmation to the said submission of the information by the GST Practitioner, then it shall be treated as a deemed confirmation by the registered person regarding the statement furnished by the GST Practitioner.

As per Sec 48(3) of CGST Act 2017, A goods and services tax practitioner attending on behalf of a registered or an unregistered person in any proceedings under the Act before any authority shall produce before such authority, if required, a copy of the authorisation given by such person in FORM GST PCT-05

11. Activities which can be undertaken by the GST Practitioner authorized by/ on behalf of the Registered Person

– Furnishing of the details of outward and inward supplies;

– Furnishing monthly, quarterly, annual or final return;

– make deposit for credit into the electronic cash ledger;

– file a claim for refund*; and

– file an application for amendment or cancellation of registration:

*Provided that where any application relating to a claim for refund or an application for amendment or cancellation of registration has been submitted by the goods and services tax practitioner authorised by the registered person, a confirmation shall be sought from the registered person and the application   submitted by the said practitioner shall be made available to the registered person on the common portal and such application shall not be proceeded with further until the registered person gives his consent to the same. (9)

12. Obligations & Duties of the Goods and Services Tax Practitioners

The person has to deliver his duties with utmost care and by maintaining the professional conduct as explained below-

• The GST practitioner has to ensure the preparation of the statements with due diligence;
• He has to affix his digital signature on the statements prepared by him or electronically verify using his credentials.
• A goods and services tax practitioner enrolled in any other State or Union territory shall be treated as enrolled in the State or Union territory for the purposes specified above.

13. Conditions for purposes of appearance.

– Enrolment is required.No person shall be eligible to attend before any authority as a goods and services tax practitioner in connection with any proceedings under the Act on behalf of any registered or un-registered person unless he has been enrolled under rule 83.

– Copy of authorization is required to be produced if appearing before any authority.A goods and services tax practitioner attending on behalf of a registered or an unregistered person in any proceedings under the Act before any authority shall produce before such authority, if required, a copy of the authorisation given by such person in FORM GST PCT-05

14. Who is the Examination Authority?

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC) has notified National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics as the authority for conducting the examination for GST Practitioners under Rule 83(3) of the CGST Rules 2017, vide notification no 24/2018 Central Tax dated 28th May 2018.

Link to register

https://nacin.onlineregistrationform.org/NACIN/LoginAction_loadIndex.action

15. When is next exam scheduled?

The next exam will be conducted on 31^st Oct 2018  for the previous sales tax practitioners or tax return preparer. The Government has already opened the window for registration. The examination for such GSTPs shall be conducted on 31.10.2018 from 11:00hrs to 13:30 hrs at designated examination centres across India. It will be a Computer Based Exam. The examinations for other GST Practitioners shall be held on the further notified dates.

Important dates
Commencement of online submission of application form	25/09/2018
Last date of submitting the application form	10/10/2018
Admit Card can be downloaded from (tentative date)	20/10/2018
Date of Examination	31/10/2018
Declaration of Result	05/11/2018

16. How to Prepare for the Examination?

TaxGuru and GST Professionals announces its Oct’ 2018 batch and most comprehensive Online GST Certification Course after successfully completing its previous 6 batches with thousand of successful participants. The new batch would cover all the amendments till Nov’ 2018 with a special focus on GST Audits, Annual Returns, GST Amendment Act & Rules and handling assessments. The new batch would cover all the amendments till Nov’ 2018 and series of MCQs on GST to practice. 30 hrs detailed course. 2 classes a week on weekends for 3 hrs each. Batch start date 07th October’ 2018.

GST CERTIFICATION COURSE INCLUSIONS:

• Batch would cover all the amendments till the last session i.e. End of Nov’ 2018
• “Course Completion Certificate” from TaxGuru and GST Professionals
• 30 hrs detailed course (2 classes a week for 3 hrs on weekends for one and half months)
• Online test series to evaluate your performance
• Live Query resolution through free access to the interactive Query resolution forum.
• Special Session considering GST Practitioner’s Examinations to be conducted by Government of India
• Free GST Book titled “Simplified Approach to GST – A Ready Referencer”

LINK TO REGISTER FOR GST CERTIFICATION COURSE

https://www.gstprofessionals.com/Landing/batch-vii/taxguru-training.html